A Rose By Any Other Name is a Cherry
JULY 31, 2007 - My fingers are now stained a deep red from the late-season Lapin cherries I pitted all morning for canning. Partway through, with my thumb getting sore, our neighbour Ruben came over to get the cherries I promised to give him in exchange for getting some back after they'd been through his dehydrator.
"Is this too many?" he asked, his stainless steel bowl half full. "Please, take more," I said. He hesitated. "Really, I'm sick of them right now!"(I was alone in cherry world, as James was working frantically in the next room on a different book deadline.)
If I was the sort of person who ever got manicures, I would have been wishing that my cherries were the sort with clear, rather than red, juice. The unknown cherries at our northern cabin in Dorreen, BC, are of this type. However, the Dorreen ones are alsosour - actually a separate species from the sweet, though both come from China originally and are related to the rose - as are peaches, plums, apricots and almonds. Talk about a magical family. And this week I have canned half the clan!
I wish I knew what sort of cherries the ones in Dorreen are. They look something like the Montmorency, which was once considered the ultimate cherry in France; but now, the Oxford Companion to Food reports, it is hard to find there. Oddly (since France seems to hold on to old foodways more than we do) it is still commonly grown in North America for commercial pie and jam production, though youwon't find it in the supermarket. The word "sour" is a marketing downside, and no one wants to bake anymore it seems.
I was interested to see that the Summerland Research Station has an experimental cherry breeding program, and they are apparently looking for new commercial successes; and one sweet cherry they called the Skeena (the name of the river our cabin sits beside).
However, I can't help but think that government money would best be spent rescuing old breeds of cherries and other fruits that already were proven producers and favorites in days gone by. For instance, the Dorreen cherry, though technically sour, is sweet enough to eat fresh off the tree. It may just be a Montmorency, but these are often described as small, while the Dorreencherry is easily as large as a Bing. And the pits? Squeeze the cherry and it pops right out the top. With my sore Lapin thumb, I feel absolutely nostalgic for this ease. However, our holiday plans take us to Dorreen for the apple, rather than the cherry, season. I hope the bears enjoyed our mystery cherries as much as we do. -ADS
